I sincerely hope that things can only go up from here...
Jugulator (1997)
Jugulator – The intro begins incredibly dark and metallic, almost industrial. We get some deep sighs and minor-key arpeggios and…this is a very different Judas Priest. It sounds more like a Sabbath track off
Dehumanizer. Rob Halford is replaced with Ripper Owens and the band has to prove that the new guy is up to the task, so naturally the first time we ever hear Ripper he’s doing a lame spoken word intro that sounds like Dave Mustaine. Great decision, gents. Double bass ushers in the scream that should’ve opened the album. The music on this track is pummeling, but it sounds more like Anthrax than Priest. There’s grunting and Ripper is singing mostly in a lame Hetfield/Anselmo impression with some occasional falsetto wails (that do sound amazing) and more Mustaine inflections. Some of the riffing is intense, but completely indistinct. It sounds cool but there’s nothing catchy about it. The lead guitar tones are atrocious (literally the worst they’ve ever had), the lyrics are godawful, and there’s not a single melody to be found. What is this song even talking about? I commend them for adding an “-or” song to the discography instead of another “-er” song, but it’s actual nonsense. “Predit hater?” Seriously, go home boys.
2/10
Blood Stained – Track two opens exactly the same as track one, with dark arpeggios and sound effects. The riff kicks in and sounds like it should be the opening track to a Sevendust album. Blood Stained has a better vocal arrangement and the chug riffing is definitely catchier than track one, but Ripper is only utilized to grunt and yell during the chorus instead of singing like the lead singer of Judas
Fucking Priest. The bridge melody sounds lifted from an Alice in Chains records. I get that they are trying to go darker and satisfy the sound of the times, but this music just isn’t good. If you told me that this was a completely different band from Painkiller, I’d believe you. It sounds nothing like Glenn and KK. Blood Stained is better than the title track, but still not good at all by Priest’s standards.
4/10
Dead Meat – This one kicks off thrashier than the previous two and sounds for one second like a Priest riff, but then we’re “treated” to atonal harmonics and more TUFF RIPPER vocals. I don’t understand why they hired a guy famous for singing like Halford and then have him sing completely unlike Halford. His delivery of “surrender” during the chorus here is so cringe-inducing (like Blaze in Lightning Strikes Twice). There’s just no melody in this song. The solos again sound like Kerry King playing through a cheese grater inside of a potato. Halford’s absence is sorely felt. So far, every song on this album is too long by at least 1.5 minutes. Ripper gets in a few good wails, but this song still sucks.
2/10
Death Row – More lame sound effects and terrible voice acting worse than Megadeth’s “Captive Honour” and more dark arpeggios. I don’t know why 90’s metal was so obsessed with voice acting, but it’s one of my least favorite aspects of the genre. The riffs here are similarly rhythm-based and unmelodic (and even sound more Pantera-ish than before). Ripper is unidentifiable in tone as he mostly yells and says “lee-ver” as though he isn’t an American. The chorus isn’t terrible for any other band, but it’s incredibly lame for Priest. More voice acting, more poor guitar leads (now with wah!), and the song just keeps limping along. On the plus side: I hear some cool slap bass and Scott Travis really kills the double bass. The song ends with (surprise, surprise) more sound effects and arpeggios.
3/10
Decapitate – We’re verging on nü metal territory with this atonal intro and things just get worse with the unmelodic verses (“Your head – you will lose it!”). The lyrics and vocals seem like an afterthought to music that was already an afterthought. Ripper’s got at least 5 vocal layers going at once to make him sound like he has depth. Somewhere beneath the disgusting guitar tone there’s actually some cool playing, too bad it sounds like ass. More voice acting with bad jokes? Fuck it, I’m out. This song is offensively stupid and lazy.
1/10
Burn in Hell – Evil arpeggio? Check. Sound FX? Check. Distorted bass groove: oh, that’s actually kind of cool. Am I crazy or does this sound a little like Enter Sandman? The first verse and chorus contain the most personality and real performance I’ve heard from Ripper yet. I don’t love it, but he’s really digging into the material. “Scream in the niiiiiiiiiight!” The chorus is actually catchy, though still not up to regular Priest standards. By the time the Lars-ish drum intros end and the band kicks in, this is a pretty cool tune. Even the lead guitar tones are decent! Ripper fucking shreds this song, he sounds legitimately scary and his highs are quite impressive. The Metallica vibes are overwhelming, but this is easily the most solid song yet. The outro riff is seriously cool and so far the only successful attempt at the “dark, evil” tone they’ve been searching for on this album. Burn in Hell is one of only two songs worth listening to from this release.
7/10
Brain Dead – Cheese graters return, sound effects never cease, single-note riffs start the proceedings…before a decidedly heavier, groove metal riff kicks in. Lyrically this song is a reinterpretation of Metallica’s “One” and it’s nowhere near as good. The idea of the life support beeping along to the tempo is cool, but becomes annoying very quickly. TUFF GUY RIPPER returns for the chorus and his best range is never utilized. I think good notes are being played during the solos, but it sounds like a Nine Inch Nails outtake farting into a microphone. Dave Mustaine returns in the bridge. Another forgettable, annoyingly bad song.
2/10
Abductors – Who produced this trash? At what point does the producer step in and say: “Every fucking song opens with the same thing, gentlemen, maybe let’s edit that out?” Ripper finally uses his best (shriek) range throughout half this song, but the material is not good. It’s more industrial metal, paint-by-numbers songwriting with terrible lyrics. “They mentally rape you!” Ronnie Fucking Dio, guys, just stop it. There’s a rare moment where the band attempts an acoustically-driven, melodic moment and it still has zero fucking melody. Cheers to that bass guitar, though. The bass and drum fill after the acoustic section is super quick and cool. Thank Dio the song picks up halfway through, even if they waste it by returning to the intro. Once again, this song is far too long. Extra point goes to Ripper for shrieking a lot. Minus one point for that stupid final line.
3/10
Bullet Train – There’s some more atmosphere noises at the top of this track, but at least the riffs start rather quickly. The drums, again, are in top form. Ripper lends a really nice shriek to the intro but the song becomes a mess of FX and conflicted playing. There’s so many different riffs and backing vocals and sound effects happening that this whole thing just sounds like rotting shit. Ripper pretends to be British again by saying, “ah-gain.” We end with literal TUFF GUY “WHO-AH’s!” and I want to cut off my ears.
1/10
Cathedral Spires – Another arpeggio breaks the lack of silence and…wait a minute, this one has melody?! And there’s a second guitar with more melody? AND A THIRD GUITAR WAILING IN THE BACKGROUND? And Ripper is singing with melody?!!!!! HOLY SHIT IS THIS GOING TO SOUND LIKE AN ACTUAL
JUDAS PRIEST SONG?! Yes. And no. Ripper’s got a lot of help with vocal layers during the intro, but it still sounds great. It’s moody, melancholic, and
more importantly: melodic. The heavy riffs that kick in are pretty stock, but I’m still on board. The verses are oddly timed; I can’t tell what the time signature is, but I like it. The chorus has some TUFF GUY vocals, but they’re minimal. It’s very proggy. The melody kind of grabs you after 4-5 listens. There’s something truly triumphant and regal about this chorus that I haven’t heard before in Priest’s music. I guess if this is the one truly great song from this album, it might be worth it? I don’t know. Maybe not. The solo after the bridge (I think it’s KK!) is quite nice. Just when you think the song is over, we get overdub after overdub of Ripper becoming a metal gospel choir and it’s glorious. His last high is incredible. Cathedral Spires is not a perfect song, but I’m willing to bet it’s as good as Ripper Priest gets.
9/10
I don’t want to be overly negative here, but I really can’t help it. Judas Priest has always been a band that thrives on experimentation. They’ve gone from heavy blues to proto-metal to glam rock to straight up classic heavy metal to speed metal to melodic metal to radio hard rock to synth-wave pop rock and now…this. I appreciate that Judas Priest is not a band to consistently sound the same, but at the same time there are certain tenants of their music that I expect regardless of their current experiment, such as:
- catchy vocal hooks
- twin guitar riffs and harmonies
- some form of melody, either in the instrumentation or the vocals
Jugulator doesn’t just replace a vocalist, it completely abandons the Judas Priest identity that I enjoy. Even when I disliked a previous album (
Point of Entry or
Turbo or
Ram It Down) I could still rely on a few songs with solid guitar parts, decent production, catchy vocals with good performances, or an underlying sense of melodic balance. This new era of Priest has none of those qualities and I can’t help but be incredibly disappointed.
One positive: this is the most prominent bass guitar I’ve heard on a Priest record. Ian Hill is slapping, popping, and pulling some cool fills out of the gutter music (especially in Death Row, Decapitate, and Cathedral Spires). Also, Travis remains an incredible studio drummer.
Side note: Glenn Tipton is an absolutely atrocious lyricist. Ripper should have stepped up to the plate.
Album rating – 3.6/10
